The Perfect Trifecta: Carolina Football, Local Restaurants and Awesome Prizes

Imagine it’s Saturday and you’ve just finished all your homework in time for the big football game. All your friends are going. You’re excited to go cheer on the Tar Heels with them… but you’re also starving.

Naturally, you want to treat yo’self to a nice meal after putting in ~werk~ at the lib, but your friends want to get to the game early to get Carolina Housing Claim the Game points, duh. So, as any good friend would do, you suck it up, put on your Carolina blue dress, stick a cute little Tar Heel on your cheek and go to the game.

Just as you’re starting to feel faint from hunger, you smell the most delicious fumes wafting down the bleachers from concessions. You follow the smell and discover a wonderful surprise: UNC’s newest concessions options!

That’s right, gone are the days when nachos, popcorn and hot dogs were the only game day food to choose from. This season, UNC is introducing even more flavor to Kenan Stadium — as if you needed another reason to go cheer on your favorite Tar Heels in your favorite place!

Local restaurants Al’s Burger Shack and Merritt’s Store and Grill have opened up shop in Kenan to serve up some OG Chapel Hill goodness to you and your friends.

You want to munch on a Bobo Chili Cheese Burger as you watch UNC kicker Nick Weiler hit yet another amazing, game-winning field goal? You got it. You want to belt out “Sweet Caroline” with a Merritt’s BLT in one hand and UNC foam finger on the other? I do too tbh.

You no longer have to make the trek from HOJO to Franklin Street to get your foodie fix; all you have to do is attend a UNC football game. And, on top of it all, when you swipe into the game with your Onecard, your residence hall is automatically given “Claim the Game” points that could win your community a sweet prize at the end of the season.

If you don’t like burgers, sandwiches, or prizes, that’s okay (I guess?) — not everyone at Carolina has the same taste. But there is one thing I am confident we can all relate to: the overwhelming sense of pride that consumes us when we become a drop in the sea of Carolina blue at a sporting event. The feeling of unity we get while singing “Hark the Sound” at the of a game, win or lose, that reminds us why we are all here.

The food and the prizes are great, sure. But I promise, the memories will last forever.